Somebody Like You: A Small Town Single Mom Romance (The Heartbreak Brothers Book 4) by Carrie Elks (best love story novels in english .txt) 📗

“It’s good you’re keeping yourself busy. And football’s football, right? You can come back when you’re ready.”

“Yep. The football is good. And they have so much stamina. I’d forgotten how much unharnessed energy teenagers had.” His thoughts turned to Michael – and of course from there they leapt to Mia. He swallowed hard as he remembered how soft her long hair was as it brushed against his cheek. “Anyway, I’d better go. Lots going on here.” Lies, all lies. “I’ll catch you later, okay?”

“Sure. Take care. Glad you’re doing well.”

Cam disconnected and grabbed his car keys, heading out to the SUV that the dealership had loaned him. He climbed inside and pressed the ignition, turning the stereo to high. Loud music blasted out – a new track Gray had sent him yesterday to check out. The pumping bass somehow calmed him, making his breath slow and easy.

Glad you’re doing well.

Yeah, he was doing great. His career was hanging by a thread, his teammates were moving on without him, and he had a boner for a woman who was completely uninterested in him.

He turned the car around and drove down his driveway, eyes blinking at the reflection of the sun shining up from the creek.

Two of those things he had no control over. The third? She was a challenge, and she intrigued the hell out of him.

And he wanted her. Maybe too much.

Chapter Twelve

“Hey, Mom, come and look!” Josh called out from the living room. Mia put the last clean glass away and closed up the dishwasher, wiping her hands on the kitchen towel as she walked through the doorway.

Josh was sitting with Sam in front of the coffee table, the two of them leaning over a half-finished jigsaw puzzle. “We’ve done all the edges,” Josh told her, a beaming smile on his face. “I did most of it, didn’t I, Uncle Sam?”

“Yep, you did.” Sam nodded. “But the edges are the easy part. It’s the middle pieces that determine the men from the boys. See this bit?” he said, pointing at the picture on the puzzle lid. “We have to find all these different shades of blue and somehow put them all together. That’s where the skill is.”

“I can do that,” Josh said, his eyes lighting up. “Mom, do you want to help?”

Mia shook her head, shooting a grateful look at Sam. He and Josh seemed to have a natural affinity, and it made her life so much easier.

She may be able to start paying Sam some rent when she got her first paycheck, but it wouldn’t be market rate. That’s why she was already planning on painting the living room during her free weekends, and why she’d written up a schedule of repairs for the kitchen and bathrooms.

She owed Sam a lot. They all did.

“I have some work to do,” she told Josh. “You can carry on with the puzzle until eight, then you need to shower and get into your pjs, okay? If you do that, we’ll read some Harry Potter together.”

“Sure,” Josh said. “It’s a deal.”

Sam looked up at her again, his grizzled face pulled into a frown. “Are they working you too hard already? It’s only your first day.”

“Says the guy who only takes one day off a week.”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, but I own the business. Your extra work is lining somebody else’s pockets.”

“I want to make a good impression,” she told him lightly. “And I enjoy working. I always have.” She’d spent the afternoon in a conference room with Nathan and Eliana, talking about a secret project they were working on with Eliana’s other son in Scotland. They were creating an international blend, with whiskey from four different distilleries across the world, and had tasked Mia with creating a marketing plan for the new product.

“We’ve always outsourced our marketing before,” Eliana had told her. “But Nathan and Daniel persuaded me that we need a dedicated resource. That’s where you come in. You’ll work on our other brands, too, but I want this to be your top priority.”

It was exciting, and scary, and Mia knew this was her chance to make an impression. If the Carters liked her work, then her job would be safe, which would mean she could start paying her way and even saving for the boys’ futures.

In a few years, Michael would be going to college, and as much as she hoped he’d at least get a partial scholarship, she needed to have enough money to help pay for everything else.

And then there was Josh. He didn’t have a lot of expensive hobbies, but he did suffer from asthma. His prescriptions would be covered by this job, too, minus the copay.

For the first time in what felt like forever, she was starting to relax about money and their future. And it was good to be challenged professionally. She’d always been good at her job, even if she sometimes felt like a failure at everything else.

“Hey, Mom?” Josh said, as she went to head back to the kitchen, where her laptop was set up on the table.

“Yes, honey?”

“Noah’s mom says she’s going to call you about pee wee football. There’s a place on Noah’s team I could join.”

“I thought you didn’t like football.” Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as cheap as she thought.

“I didn’t like it in Kansas City.” Josh shrugged. “Dad would always shout at me when I dropped the ball. Noah says nobody shouts at his games.” Josh gave her a hopeful look. “Noah’s mom says she can take me to practice every Saturday. She says if it’s okay with you, I can stay over on Fridays after the game at the high school.”

“Oh. Okay.” Mia nodded. “I’ll call her.”

“Two footballers in the family.” Sam shook his head. “I worry for the cars of Hartson’s Creek.”

“Uncle Sam.” Josh rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to hit any cars again. I’m gonna be